Original subtitles

12 potters started...

I'm really excited. Woo!

Oh, my God.

..and over the last nine weeks they've wowed us

with some sensational ceramics.

The amount of detail is staggering.

From gargoyles...

Good Lord almighty!

..to table lamps.

You've done a fantastic job.

Oh!

Time for a quick Brazilian.

They've fought fire...

Come on, kiln gods.

Whoa! Hey!

..water...

Is it leaking? Oh, lovely.

Yeah. Don't cry cos you'll make me cry!

..and they've played a blinder.

Careful when you put it down. No!

Torture, pottery torture.

But one by one the potters said goodbye.

Friends for life. Friends for life.

Now for James...

Pff.

..Jon...

It's a solid bump.

..and Lois...

..just two challenges remain

to decide who will be crowned Britain's best home potter.

Welcome to the final of the Great Pottery Throw Down.

# Making time

# Shooting lines

# People have their uses

# People have their uses. #

This year's Throw Down final

features three very different potters.

Hello. Are you excited? Just a little, yeah.

Nice, calm, neat. Could you pretend to be chaotic?

I don't want to ruin this!

James has wowed the judges week after week

with his incredible hand building...

They're brilliant.

I love the level of detail.

..skill at the wheel...

It's very well thrown, really.

It is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The moulding's better than my one.

..and decorative flair...

The quality of the brushwork in the bowls is exquisite.

..winning an incredible five second challenges in row

and Potter of the Week twice.

Oh, thank you, thank you!

It just keeps ramping up each week, realising how far you're getting.

Going to find my bench for the very last time.

I'd like to be the winner. Yeah, definitely. But there's a lot to do.

So that's what I'm focusing on, really. And it is the final.

So, yeah, last chance.

Lois... Yeah?

My God, have you excelled.

It's so full of character!

It's absolutely lovely.

From the start Lois has blown everyone away

with her ambitious builds...

I just have to admire the sheer volume of work.

The surfaces, the texture that you've created.

..and unique style.

We've come to see from you,

you know, your decorative skills, your skills with a brush.

They're beautiful.

Despite moments of self-doubt...

Don't give yourself such a hard time all the time

because this is fantastic.

..she's been crowned Potter of the Week four times.

It's a big confidence boost to get this far.

I've proved something to myself, for sure.

But I know that I've got more to give.

I'm just going to try and do as much as I can, as well as I can,

and fingers crossed that I pull it off.

You got the, uh, ruler out again, Jon?

Yeah, I've got the ruler out. Yeah. Just go with your heart, mate.

Oh, BLEEP!

After a shaky start... I mean, whoops.

..Jon's planning and attention to detail

has helped him produce some incredible ceramics.

It's absolutely wonderful.

You've captured the stance of the animal,

the texture of the skin.

And he's employed his technical know-how...

I've got loads of 3D printed kit again. Yes!

So what software do you use to model that in?

Oh, my God! Pottery, pottery! Sorry.

..to make up for his lack of skill with a brush.

That beautiful crisp line you've captured in the tile

hasn't transferred to the... Yes. ..to the basins.

Yeah, when I had to start using a brush it fell apart.

But week by week he has unleashed his artistic flair...

Jon, I have faith in you and your inner flamboyance.

..securing Potter of the Week twice.

You've come out of that engineering personality

into the kind of artist.

It'd be brilliant to win. I'm coming with a slightly negative,

"Oh, it's going to be one of the others who're going to win,"

but I'll try. I'll do everything I can to win.

But it'd be lovely to show that I have got other artistic skills

that I didn't personally think I had,

and, you know, I don't think it's what people expect

but you've got to go out with a bang.

You can't go out with a big crack and a whimper, really, so...

Good luck, guys.

Yay!

Welcome to the final.

You should be very, very proud of what you've achieved. Well done.

OK, for your main make challenge,

the judges would like you to make

a pyramid vase centrepiece.

They want bold, striking, symbolic vases

that would take pride of place in any room.

Now, Keith, any words of advice?

Your pyramid vases must be made up of four parts,

stacked on top of each other.

Now, each section must have at least three spouts,

and it must be able to hold water. It is a vase, after all.

The inspiration for your pyramid vases is you.

Each section should tell us about

a different aspect of your life or personality.

This should take the form of framed illustrated motifs.

And keep in mind, this is the final,

so use it as an opportunity to show off as many decorative

and making skills as you can.

We're looking for that statement piece. Give us that wow factor.

OK then, potters.

You have been given seven and a half hours

to make your pyramid vases, and your time starts

now.

Yeah, here we go! Oh, my word.

It is a wonderful feeling. It does feel like a big event.

Just got to deliver on it now.

Good to get into it, you know, all this sort of planning

and preparing and thinking through what you're going to do.

Now just got to focus and get on with it.

There's a lot to do, there's four pieces,

so it's all about making a good start really.

Rich, it's the final!

The final, yeah. We have our three potters.

We do, and what a brilliant challenge to give them,

a pyramid vase. It stems from Holland.

It's essentially to display tulips in

and it's a classic iconic piece of ceramic, isn't it?

Yeah, absolutely. You look around these examples.

Yeah. Just the structure,

the way every section is piled one on top of the other,

I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how our potters

choose to approach the build.

There's a lot of elements,

and it really is quite a technical construction.

They may wish to hand build, they may wish to throw.

But they need to have precision at the core of their build

to make sure they slot together.

And let's not forget, it's a vase, so they just don't want to leak!

Definitely not. Cracks could be catastrophic in this challenge.

And then it's the decoration.

They can use brush decoration, sprigs, relief work.

Ultimately, these pyramid vases are a great opportunity

for our potters to show every skill they've got,

throw everything at it. We just want to be wowed.

I want to see their personalities all over them

and we can go, "Yeah. Oh, that's Lois,

"that's James and that's Jon in a pyramid vase."

Hello, James. Hello, James. Good morning, hello.

Hello. The final. I know, yeah!

How are you feeling? Um, excited.

As long as I make something I'm pleased with, that's my aim.

Well, tell us about your plan.

Each one's a different part of my life.

On the bottom layer, I will have family,

then on the second one, my teaching.

Running is the third one up,

and then the pottery is the top one. OK.

I'm going to try and make double wall vases so they'll be quite heavy.

There's a lot of clay, it's going to take a while to dry out. Right.

Why making them double walled?

Well, I've decided to do double walls to give it a bit more stability

but where it joins there's a chance that you'll get a crack.

Yeah. Hopefully... And it's just that drying, isn't it?

Well, when it's double walled, inside,

there's that cavity that doesn't really get the air. Yeah.

In a final bid to wow the judges with his skill at the wheel,

James' double walled vases

will each be dedicated to

something special in his life.

And his ambition extends

to his decoration too.

He'll add sprigs, stamps and motifs

illustrated with sgraffito and brushwork.

Coming out all guns blazing.

Sprigs, double walls, hand decoration. Yeah. Yeah.

Wow. Well, look good luck. We've got seven and a half hours.

So should be able to come up with something decent.

Well, it is the final. Yeah. Oh, it is, isn't it? Yeah!

The success of the potters' pyramid vase

rests quite literally upon its base.

# You got a gold suede coat and a soul like fire... #

This is going to have to carry the weight of the rest of it

so it's quite important to get this right.

And having set himself the technical challenge

of throwing his double walled...

Come on, come on, come on a bit higher.

..for James, the pressure's on.

I'm a little bit nervous, just making sure I can get the size

and control the clay enough.

And, while James and Lois have chosen the wheel...

My base piece is slab built.

..Jon's playing to his engineering strengths.

Slab building, it is just about accuracy. Precision.

But because every piece...

One, two, three, four...

..must be cut and leather hard

before construction can even begin...

..15, 16, 17, 18.

18 pieces in the base.

..he'll have to work fast.

Yeah, it's a risk, but I think we've got to show some variety

and I don't want to throw every single level.

Adorned with childhood memories,

Jon's base will support a series of vases

narrating the key stages of his life

through increasingly fluid forms,

culminating in a flamboyant finial

trumpeting his creative achievements

in this year's Throw Down.

How are you going about decorating this?

We saw with your sinks, the brushwork wasn't great.

No, no, it wasn't. So what are you doing?

I've got some 3D rollers, hopefully to help me out

with that decoration phase, which I'm always weaker in. Yeah.

And then I'm going to do some practising on my brushwork whilst they're in the kiln!

Yeah. You deserve to be in the final and you're here

because of the way you plan the process all the way through.

Hmm. And you're...you're building

to flamboyance, which is really wonderful!

Breathe.

So I've put the base in the drying room.

It's a lot of clay there. It's going to take a long time to dry,

which I...one thing I am worried about.

As James and Lois push on,

with his slabs finished and firming up...

It's a solid bump.

..Jon can finally join them at the wheel.

This is the top finial. This is the flamboyant bit.

And I want a good, trumpety shape, really.

Come on, up you come.

But James' double wall design...

Don't collapse, don't collapse.

..isn't going to plan.

That's collapsed.

Shoot.

I am going to stop here.

The outside wall's not as tall as the inside wall.

So what I'll probably do is I'll dry it

and then just coil the rest.

And James...

Oh, God. Oh, God!

..isn't the only one with a problem to fix.

I'm having minor disaster time.

This section's about my teaching career

and supporting children with special needs.

So this is a rescue mission in progress.

Inspired by the things she holds close to her heart,

Lois' pyramid vase will

take the form of a self-sculpture,

perched on three small feet

and decorated head to toe

with intricate brushwork,

sprigs and stamps.

I mean, it's quite a complex build.

Do you have any concerns with the engineering of it all?

I'm in blissful ignorance at the moment!

Are you throwing these?

The majority of it, yeah,

I was planning to slab build this base.

But those joins scare me, so I kind of chickened out of that.

I mean, there's a lot of work to do, Lois.

I feel like we ought to leave you to get on. Yeah. Yeah.

OK. Good luck. Thank you. Crikey, good luck. Thank you.

Four hours to go...

I think that's got quite a bit of flamboyance, hasn't it?

I'm pretty happy with that. So it's on to the spouts next.

The spouts are all going to be quite different.

Going to have two arms. The middle ones are like pockets.

So now I'm going to throw off the hump so I've got a big lump of clay,

and then I'll make pieces off the top.

So how are you getting on? I'm just a bit grumpy, really.

Are you a bit grumpy? Yeah, I've got the hump.

Oh!

Walked into that one.

Oh, I'm walking out of it!

Wahey.

With their spouts thrown

and vases and slabs dried to leather hard...

Oh, my goodness.

There's half a bag of clay there!

..construction can begin.

So this'll be the base. And I'll start with the tops.

So lots to cut first.

But before James can begin, he still has to finish

building two of his double walled vases.

To make up for the gap,

I'm going to coil the rest of it.

It's not going as planned cos I wanted to throw it

and that would've saved me quite a bit of time.

This is the tummy area of my lady.

This is going to be the front.

Couple of front pockets.

This section here is about my husband Adam,

meeting him at school and our children.

Adam's really, really supportive for my creative endeavours.

Without him I don't think I would've done it.

We met at school in music practice.

She's quite a skilled musician.

Plays the violin and the flute.

And I'm a terrible brass player.

I suppose she probably took pity on me.

We were friends from that point until eventually

one New Year's Eve, when we were 16, we got together.

We've been together ever since.

Lois is creative in everything she does.

Everything she makes has got a part of her in it.

But this is a real leap of faith for her.

There's that huge risk involved in putting your heart

and soul into something

and then allowing it to be exposed to...

..to the world, and judged, ultimately.

She just has grown and grown in her self-belief.

And it's just so exciting and so impressive.

I've always believed in her

and we've got two boys who get to look up to their mum

and see what she's capable of.

What do you think you'll do if she wins the whole thing?

Uh...

Go upside down...

..with pretty much nothing except for my pants on.

Yeah, I think I'll do that as well!

I'm just making the feet.

I decided to do feet because

I really wanted to just lift her up a bit,

put her high heels on and style it out!

This is my favourite sort of thing to do.

Build stuff and just not measure it,

just be like, "Oh, yeah that'll work."

Yeah, this slab construction needs precision to slot together.

I used to make models of buildings with cardboard,

so you fold pieces of card with little tabs on the corners,

like you buy. But used to make my own.

The models he did, just brilliant.

He really went for it. He's always loved

building things with his hands and making things.

When we went to France

and we went up Puy de Dome, which is an extinct volcano,

when we came back he made a model of this

in paper mache and things, all painted up,

with the road going round and a little

temple of Venus on the top and everything.

He made it all. And then we went horse riding in France,

didn't we? Oh, yeah. And after you'd ridden that,

we found out you were allergic to horses.

And this one is you doing some engineering construction work.

Or demolition, there. Breaking up some concrete.

Well, he went into structural engineering and so on

cos he wanted to build things that he could stand back and say,

"I did that. I built that."

He was proud of what he'd done.

When he was young, Jonathan was very quiet.

We couldn't believe he'd entered this,

this quiet little boy we used to have,

entering that to go on the television!

And he's done really well. Yeah.

I'm already super proud of him.

I think he's done so well to get this far

and it'd be lovely if he could win and finish it off. Oh, yeah.

I'd be immensely proud of him, but no more than I am already.

I've been proud of him for years.

So he's not going to change that.

Something's not working right.

I think I might have got confused with one of my measurements,

so...having a small panic.

Is it sabotage from Lois?

Yeah, I think it probably was Lois!

Did James come in in the middle of the night

and change a seven to a two? Changed...yeah!

It's all gone to pot but... Oh, sugar, I'm sorry.

What happened? It's all right. I don't know. That's not like you.

No, I know it's not. It's not. I don't know what happened,

but it's all right. I've adjusted it. They're going together.

You OK? Yeah... Well, yeah. You?

Yeah. Time's going quite fast.

The drying is taking longer than I thought it would.

It's really damp inside.

As clay dries it shrinks,

so the outside wall's drying and shrinking,

so that join there is going to want to come away from it.

And I would hate cracks along all these joins.

A challenge, he loves challenges.

He was a happy child,

uh, inquisitive,

always trying to find out how things work and trying to learn more.

That's nice, with your dad and I, and you. Yeah.

It was at university that

he fell in love with pottery.

The feel of the clay, and how he can mould things.

So this is from the very first craft fair I did.

Do you know, I remember your dad and I going there

and looking at it and I was like, "Oh!"

Amazed what you can do.

My clever...my clever son. Thank you.

Runs in the family, doesn't it? Yeah, of course it does! Yes, yeah.

Whenever James made anything for me, I treasure it.

What he does, he puts his whole heart and soul into it

and you can see it in his work.

I'm very proud of him.

And his father would be very proud that he's come so far.

My baby.

Sorry, I shouldn't have said that!

Has anyone seen my brown cushion?

My brown cushion, has anyone seen it? No. No.

There's a lot to do.

Still need to do the chest area and finish this.

Sculpting the head.

Like, I felt so calm earlier.

I just didn't see the panic coming.

I'm pretty happy with the base now

but I've spent a bit extra time than I'd planned,

with the problems, so I just want to move on to the next piece.

I do want to put the stamps on.

I am putting the spouts on my top section.

I'm trying to think carefully about

how the flowers are going to be arranged.

The flowers from the chest will come out that side

and these come out that side.

Going to be flowers all over the place!

I've got to cut the spouts at an angle

so when I put it on it's going upwards a bit,

cos you want the flowers sticking upwards.

I'm just eyeing in the angle.

There's not really time for detailed measurements.

Potters, one hour left.

One hour. God. Dear.

One last spout to go

and then I can get on with decoration.

Going with the maths roller.

Bending theory equations.

M over I equals sigma over Y equals E over R.

Allows you to work out the stresses in a beam

spanning over your conservatory to hold up the wall above.

That's come out pretty well.

Making the hair, putting some slip all the way up round it

and that will actually be fast and cover a lot of bumps.

Right. Sgraffito.

So I've done stencils.

I just draw around it. They are generic images,

they're not really of me.

3D printed roller!

Ah, so they are hollow?

Yeah, I made them hollow just to save on fluid. So how does it work?

It exposes the fluid to UV light.

Ah! And so it builds it up... I see.

..by exposing it in 50 micron layers of the liquid. Wow!

Pff.

So you've got your generic man sketches over here?

Yeah, that's right. I'll just put glasses on it to make it me.

There you go! Isn't it great to be generic man? It's got short hair... Yeah. It is, yeah.

Special skill: generic!

But it'll print, like, an angle? Will it do, like, a 45 degree angle...?

Oh, yeah, yeah, you can print anything...

Yeah, up to that point and then... Then you have to have...

Sorry, Jon. We'll chat later!

Potters, half an hour left.

Half an hour, ruddy hell.

What?! Struggling a little.

What's going on, love? Just time.

You're shaking a bit.

Yeah, yeah, panic it's called.

Haven't got any spouts on the base yet.

Oh, might be all right.

The agenda now is tidy up spouts,

get the face on

and then make sure that each layer is held in place by the other.

This is the locator pin.

This little bit will sit inside the lid of the other pot,

just stops it sliding around. Happy with that.

So I can add some

from the bottom of this that should just hold this in place.

It sort of just fits.

That works.

Potters, that's the last ten minutes.

Jon, I'm going to turn around

and you're going to have all your spouts on, OK?

All three are on. But I'm holding one of 'em.

Oh, sure, that's grand, hold on to your little spout.

I haven't got time

to do any sprigs really so I'm going to do the stamps.

I've got my sprigs on my hot-air balloon.

I am happy with this.

As long as it just doesn't break in the kiln,

cos there's no air flow down the middle of it.

Two minutes left, last two minutes, potters.

Argh, OK.

And a gentle reminder that all your pieces must be in

the drying room. Hurry up!

Nothing, nothing moves them.

Ah, look at this hero.

Whoo.

Hooray.

Two more minutes?

30 seconds left.

I forgot my roller. Doing a quick rollering on the top.

Oh, wow.

Oh, no, no, wrong way, wrong way.

I'm going, I'm going, I'm going, I'm going.

Do you want to come out, Jon? Not if I don't have to.

Five, four, three, two, one.

That's it, that's it.

You go and have a rest and we will dry

and fire your pieces.

Potters, dismissed.

Well done, boys.

That was intense.

There was a lot to do and I had a number of problems.

I've not had that many problems before in a make

but actually I was really pleased with that base.

I think it actually turned out looking quite crisp.

So let's just hope it doesn't crack.

I've done everything I can now. It's just hoping that

the clay dries well and the kiln gods are kind to me.

It's like chaos in that kiln. You never what's going to happen.

Everything's stacked OK.

The things that are going to play on my mind is going to be

the inner wall - will it dry fast enough

before it goes in the kiln before it explodes?

It's the Great Pottery Throw Down final.

Ooh. It's on a wheel!

And hiding under the hessian...

That looks exciting. Oh, my word! What is that?

It's like a massive balloon.

..is the second challenge that'll help to decide our winner.

That's making me feel quite nervous, that's for sure.

Hello, potters, and welcome to your final second challenge,

and this week it is a spot test.

Ooh.

Testing you on sgraffito.

So to show us how it's done is our very own Rich Miller, please. Rich.

Oh, my God. That's amazing.

So I've made you each a press-moulded sphere.

The aim of the process is to scrape through this blue

to reveal the layer beneath.

So you've got a very simple set of tools.

Some dentist tools, some looped tools and a brush,

but the one thing I would say - be careful.

Once you take this blue underglaze off, you can't put it back on.

So every mark will count

and we will see every mark that you've made with the tool.

When you start removing the material,

you will see that it leaves quite a mark.

That's quite bold.

You could go over the whole thing with a really fine line.

This will give you a much fatter line.

You know, you can remove quite large areas.

But we're looking for something expressive, immediate.

For a sphere decorated in its entirety

with a beautiful quality of line, that sgraffito has to be crisp.

This is the last time you're going to do a second challenge.

So really go for it.

Potters, this is going to be judged blind

so I'm going to ask the judges to clear off. OK.

Make me a cup of tea.

OK, then, for your very final second challenge,

you have been given 45 minutes.

Oh.

And your time starts now. Remove the hessian.

Agh!

Just trying to think of decoration.

A geometric-type pattern, really.

I'm thinking concentric circles.

Oh, my God, I'm nowhere near the middle. Oh,

it's a lot harder than it looks.

I have decided to do like a landscape-y-type thing

with mountains.

Climbing the mountains with the boys

and just some of my favourite symbols and things.

This is how far I got in my head.

So need to go a bit faster than that.

Ah... Wah. I have no idea what I'm doing at the moment.

I'm just seeing where it goes.

Instead of being square shapes or circular shapes,

they're just wibbly wobbly shapes.

Hello. Is it possibly telling me what

the weather's going to be like for the next week?

It looks like a planet but with, uh, isobars, doesn't it?

Will you impress and will you win the second challenge?

Course I will. Yeah. Cool.

Whoa.

Hello. Hi. How are you doing?

It's putting the SPHERE of God into me. Uh...

I'm going to ignore you said that. What design is this?

What are we going for? We're going for lots of concentric circles

to divide it up. Are you trying to be precise?

Yes. I've got the, uh, final with this approach

of everything by geometry and planning and measurements

and I'm not giving in now.

How are we getting on here?

Uh, yeah, I'm just using some designs that I have done before.

It's quite hard without being able to plan it out

to know which bits to take away and which bits to leave.

I definitely haven't done anything on this scale before at all.

Yeah, I'm quite pleased how these

concentric circles have turned out at the top here, intersecting.

I just want to do something different in each panel now,

not the same, otherwise it'd just be one mass of concentric circles.

Trying to make sure that I get some different types of lines and areas.

If I can take enough surface off, it might be all right

but it's going to look a bit rubbish unless I get quite a lot done.

Drawing on lots of my different building designs

as a basis for the geometry.

So we've given up on the circles.

Yeah, this a, uh, more of a triangular tessellation.

I always get my triangulated tessellations mixed up

with concentric circles.

Potters, you're halfway through,

halfway through.

Not really sure what I'm up to here.

I think maybe taking away quite a lot of this would be

a good plan. Yeah, that's nice. I like that.

Kind of looks like light down onto the hills.

Do like using the smaller tools.

It's showing all the different textures I can think of.

Oh, my God, haven't done any down here.

Not sure if this looks right. Oh, I'm a bit nervous.

Just want this to stand out.

I don't know why they're judging this blind.

It's going to be so obvious who did which.

Think I might have given them a few hints with mine.

No-one else has gone for quite such

a rigid geometric solution to the problem.

You having fun? Yes, I am, yeah.

When else am I going to be able to deface a big blue sphere?

Potters, ten minutes to go to sgraffito your balls.

Absolutely no way of saying that without it sounding

the way it sounds.

It's very tempting to try and cut out the middle bit

but I don't think I will be able to in the time.

Oh, there's not many things round there.

There's a gappy gap. What can I draw? Sea creatures.

Think this looks better.

It makes it clear what the quadrants are each doing.

It also covers over some of my rubbish lines

that I started off with.

It's only taken three-quarters of an hour, got a plan.

Should've started out with a plan.

I'm just trying to make sure I've got sort of full areas.

So I'm just trying

to take out as much as possible by using the bigger tool.

I'm not going to get it finished

but I'm hoping they can see where I was going with it.

Potters, your final minute... Oh, final minute.

..to get your blue balls designed.

Am I ruining it, am I ruining it, am I ruining it?

I'm just quite scared of trying to look at it as one thing now.

Ripping the whole surface area off in one quick go,

my mistakes are gone! What mistakes?

Ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Step away from your balls.

Well, well done.

Concentric circles, you nutter.

Yeah, you are crazy.

Ooh. Hello, welcome!

The judges are looking

for fully sgraffito-ed spheres, imaginatively decorated

with beautiful, expressive mark-making.

Do you like what they've done to your balls? I do, yeah.

Yeah? I do.

Ah, it's incredible, really amazing.

I love the use of the mark-making.

Yeah. The way that carving fades out to nothing.

The whole sphere is well covered.

And I like the depth of the stars.

Feels really crisp and really fresh. Yeah. Beautiful.

Yeah.

Wow. Ooh. OK. Yeah. This is very bold, isn't it?

Very organised.

It almost has a feel of a Christmas bauble somehow, with these lines.

Yeah. You know, I like the kind of...the variety of the imagery.

Used up the sphere in its entirety very well.

The roundness of these lines. Is nice. Feel very purposeful.

Yeah, yeah, fantastic. Yeah, fab. Wow. A lot going on here.

Very complex design. I love the variety of mark-making.

You know, you've got these kind of wispy curves,

you've got scoring, you've got lines,

you've got these sort of dots that look like they've been sort

of almost gouged out.

Looks like they've sort of slightly run out of time

for removing that background. Yeah.

I think, actually, it would have real impact if it was all

of those patches on the white. It would've done, wouldn't it?

Yeah. But got to admire

the sheer quantity of work that's gone on there.

With all the second challenges, it's amazing what you manage to achieve.

The judges will now rank the sgraffito spheres

from bottom to top.

In third place, we have...

..this one.

James, yes.

I think you were just slightly a victim of your own ambition.

Extra 20 minutes, it would've been spot on.

In second place, we have...

..this one. Jon.

Love the bold carving.

Really strong in its kind of concept. Yeah.

Just lovely confident mark-making, beautiful.

So in first place we have...

Lois. ..Lois. Ooh!

Well done. The mark-making is beautiful.

I can see that you've used

the tools in lots of different ways to create different effects.

Yeah, lovely originality with the mark-making.

Yay. Whoo.

I have beaten James twice in a row now so, you know,

that's a sort of positive sign

but, no, it all sets you up in a better position to be the winner.

Certainly better than being in last, but don't tell James that.

I'm third. Last.

It's not the best place to be. I feel I could do what I usually do,

give myself too much to do. Fine.

It's day two of the final make and after a 24-hour bisque firing,

the potters' pyramid vases are ready to be decorated.

Decoration not one of my strong points

unless it involves 3D-printed rollers

so I've done quite a lot of planning to try

and get my decoration standards up.

But whether there is anything to decorate...

Oh, man. I can't see a thing.

..is a hessian shrouded secret.

I've no idea how they're going to come out.

There will probably be cracks in because of the forms.

I'm hoping there's no cracks in the base, though,

that would not be great.

Throughout this I've been worried about joining stuff

and it's been OK,

so I'm just hoping that one last time I get lucky.

Yeah, I just pray and hope that I've done enough

to keep it all together but we'll see.

Potters, the sections of your pyramid vases have been bisque fired

are now ready to be decorated.

It's time to bring your illustrated motifs to life.

They should be central to each section

and tell us about your distinct and individual stories.

Now, as these are functional vases, they must be watertight.

All those parts must be fully glazed

and don't forget, this make was built in sections.

But it still has to come together as a coherent statement centrepiece.

So really bear that in mind when it comes to decoration.

OK, then, potters, you have a range of glazes and oxides

and four-and-a-half hours to use them. Your time starts now.

OK. Yeah, a few cracks.

Argh!

Any cracks?

Nice.

Oh, dear.

Jon's slab-built vase... Oh, God.

..hasn't fared so well.

These I'm really happy with. The biggest problem is the base.

There's quite a lot of cracking. Structurally, I think it'll be fine.

I'll decorate it up and just hope I get enough glaze in there

to seal that up and don't have a leak problem, really.

Oh, one on the bottom.

And for James...

And lots at the top.

..it's double trouble.

There are some cracks at the top where

the two walls meet and one on the bottom of this one.

Which means it might not be waterproof.

Well, we'll see when it comes to that bit.

Right, time to make a mess, I think.

To help bring their pyramid vases to life...

That is King's Blue.

..the potters have a huge range of oxides and underglazes available.

So at the moment I am starting putting the motifs on.

Putting some dark blue in all the lines.

Which so far is going quite nicely.

Having the sgraffito makes this faster.

I've decided to use mainly blues but,

I'm also wanting to use red and orange

as accent colours too. I think that's OK.

Archery's been a big part of my life.

So archery's the colour theme for the rest of the pieces.

Those colours are the targets. Reds,

the yellows and the blues. I do all the blue with this,

the slip trailer with the really fine nozzle.

Filling in the pre-rolled formula here so just trying

to get a tidy infill.

All right.

Ah. Are you forgetting to breathe?

Yes, I forgot to breathe, yes. How is it all going?

Oh, it's not very good. Yeah, I'm feeling a bit blue. Tsk.

While Jon and James crack on with colour...

At the moment I'm just spending a little bit of time drawing on

all the designs that I wanted to get on there.

..Lois is laying the groundwork

for her intricately illustrated life story.

My designs are quite ambitious,

so I'd rather make a mistake now and I can rub it out.

Once this is done, I think I'll be quite fast with it,

but I need to get these on quickly.

Ooh, hurry up.

Hello, James. Hello. You OK, Rich? So where are your cracks?

This one might leak.

You've got two either side, there and there.

Yeah, I mean, that's the thing with the double wall, isn't it?

It's always difficult to kind of get that moisture out.

So it was always going to be challenging.

And hopefully they'll kind of seal up in the firing

so they'll be watertight. Fingers crossed.

So what's your plan with decorating?

Uh, I've already started going over the sgraffito.

OK, cos I was expecting more sprigs.

Time-wise, in the end I just stamped a bit of decoration at the bottom.

OK. And then do the frames. Then I'm going to have scrolling work.

They are beautiful illustrations, James. Thank you.

Hopefully that translates onto here. Wonderful.

Potters, time is stacking up. That's your first hour gone.

Ooh, that's gone quick.

That's all the drawing done. Now I will start with some colour.

I am hoping to get everything I've drawn done.

Got the motif to do on these three.

This is Battery Point Lighthouse in Portishead,

where I was born and brought up. Porpoises we've seen down there

off the coast. It's a great spot. So big part of childhood, really.

I always think of myself as not an artist,

not someone who's creative,

but even doing this drawing is motifs with the little black lines.

I thought, actually, it doesn't look so bad, that.

Maybe I CAN do a little bit of drawing.

This is going to be the base to represent family

so this is my family and I on a walk.

My kids in the middle. So I've given them all a wash of colour.

And now I'm just going to go round

and just put a little bit of darker tone on the frame.

It's difficult to be able to do that fine detail

with brushes, but I want it to feel kind of free.

I love painting. I've just moved on to the belly section.

All about Adam and our two boys.

Little cuties.

I'm doing mostly painted decoration.

It's a bit more of a challenge

but if that's my strength

then I think that's what I need to show for the final.

And kind of hopefully do it well. Ooh. How's it going, fellas?

Going all right, doing art now.

The trumpet-y flamboyant finials. Look at the state of me.

Hi, Jon. How are you doing? All right, yeah.

I've started on the flamboyant splatter. Fantastic.

The motifs are all decorated actually using

a slip trailer with black. I'm pleased with how it's turning out.

There will be some brushwork but I'm not leaning heavily on it

as that's not been one of my stronger items.

I mean, I have a saying - know what you're good at.

Yeah. But more importantly, know what you're not good at. Yeah.

And you play to your strengths,

and you adapt your creativity to what you can do. Yeah, yeah.

Good luck with it all. Thanks.

Potters, it's the final hour. You have one hour left.

Well, that's not enough to get finished, it is?

Doing all right?

I'm filling the space slowly but surely.

Looking good, James. Thank you.

All the motif's done, just a slide shade of colour.

The artistic skill is obviously where I've lacked,

so just give it a bit of interest.

I just need to finish off all the blue.

The back isn't as detailed as the front at the moment.

So, want to get some stuff going on there.

I am doing the lettering,

and then, I can go round and put on the finish touches.

Wow. It's flamboyant.

It certainly is.

What's your name, Pollock? Hey?

This is cobalt oxide with water.

Cobalt oxide will give a very strong blue to highlight the ends

of all the spouts.

I'm back into doing brushstrokes.

I'm painting in bending moment in sheer force diagrams

on structural frames.

If they thought my formula were geeky, I think bending moment

diagrams is really taking it to the next level.

Shout out for the structural engineers.

Potters, that's the last ten minutes.

Ten minutes remaining.

It's not finished! It's never going to be finished.

Right, OK.

To ensure their pyramid vases are functional,

they must be watertight.

So, every piece must be dipped in transparent glaze.

I'm going to dip this one first, let it dry, and hopefully,

add a second layer of glaze to really try and

fill those gaps right in.

Oh, look at it pouring out! That's really cool!

There's loads. There's a lot in there.

Oh! Did it spit back up at you?

Yeah, it spat back at me.

How flamboyantly rude!

Final minute - remember, make sure your bottoms are clean.

Forgot the bottom of this one.

How's your bum looking?

Yeah, it's looking nice and smart.

Oh, I missed a bit.

OK, potters - five, four, three, two, one.

Tools down, step away from your pyramid vases.

Well done, well done, well done!

We did it, yeah!

Well done, guys!

That's it, the final make done and dusted.

It's a bit sad, really, you know, you, kind of, build up to it,

and then, you do it and you're, "Oh, well, can we do another one?"

I'm pleased with what I did so, yeah, I hope I've kept myself

in the running, and just how they turn out, out the kiln,

and do they leak? And I chucked so much glaze in that bottom pot,

so hopefully it won't leak.

I'm happy with what it looks like.

But the crack at the bottom - hopefully the glaze

will fill it all in. It was a lot of glaze inside.

It has to be fit for purpose.

So if it leaks water, that's... no, that's it.

I can't believe it's done! I can't - yeah.

I've definitely put my all into it, so...

..ready to see what happens with the judging.

It's Judgment Day.

The pyramid vases have had their final firing -

and for the potters, there's nothing more they can do.

Just really excited, to have made it all the way to the end.

It's just unreal to be here - unreal to be here with those

two guys, who are both amazing.

We're all bringing something really different to it, I think,

which makes it even more special for me, really.

It's sad, rather than scary, almost.

Sad it's all coming to an end.

Morning potters. Hello!

Apprehensive - I want to see, does it work, has it survived?

Are the cracks sealed up, and does it look good?

I just want to be proud of what I've made.

I don't think I was slacking in the make or the decoration.

I put as much in as possible.

But anything can happen, when it comes out the kiln.

As long as it don't leak, I think I'll be happy.

There we go.

Oh, wow! The painting's so nice.

Oh, and there's a crack in the bottom.

Hopefully the glaze filled that in.

Colours are nice, though.

All right, Lois. Ohh!

There she is. Oh, she's still got her earrings.

That's come out better than I thought it would!

And a real Jackson Pollock.

Oh, yes oh, that's good.

This looks flamboyant, doesn't it?

Very happy. Let's hope they stack together now.

Congratulations, potters. Your pyramid vases look amazing.

Let's start with the judging.

Jon, would you please bring your pyramid vase up to the judges?

Honestly, Jon, it's absolutely brilliant!

It's brilliant!

These - how have you managed that?

I don't know, I don't know where that artist came from.

He snuck in while I wasn't looking. He snuck in, in the last ten weeks.

When you first turned up in the pottery,

I wouldn't have described you as "flamboyant".

And here you are in the final, giving us flamboyance. Who knew?

The thing that's most striking is the quality of the making, Jon.

The consistency around the spouts is spot-on,

and you couldn't ask for a better fit between the sections.

That's incredible, yeah.

Really confident coming-together of those two elements.

Millimetre-perfect.

We've seen, throughout this whole process,

your attention to detail in planning.

What we didn't see at the early stages was that freeness,

that creative spirit coming through in your work.

This is sublime. Dare I say, 3D printer.

Yeah. You've given us that lovely gradient with that blue.

And how you've managed to do this equation on here,

it's just fantastic.

I think he likes it.

Shall we see what it looks like with water in?

OK.

I'd say perhaps the bottom section and this top section,

the spouts are a little bit on the flat side,

but it just feels like it's been thought out with clarity

and built with quality.

You should be really proud of it.

I am. Well done. Thanks.

Well done, Jon.

I really like the composition, actually.

The symmetry between all of the spouts is just beautiful.

These simple forms work as a really good backdrop

to your beautiful decoration.

It's fantastic.

This idea of scribing in those illustrations...

Generic man. Generic man.

And then, applying that colour in there it's really, really striking.

I'm slightly disappointed you didn't manage to, sort of,

find the time to put all of the sprigs on.

Cos I think that would've given it an added depth to the surface.

I think you've, kind of, made a bit of a rod for your own back

with the double walls.

That consumed a lot of time that perhaps you

could've spent elsewhere, and I notice there's a little bit

of dunting - that's when it pulls itself apart as it's cooling.

Shall we see what it's like with water and flowers?

Careful, there might be a leak in that one.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Bit of a leak...

Bit of a leak, yeah. ..that layer. Definitely one in that one.

The added benefit of it becoming a water feature but...

And that one might leak, the bottom one.

OK, I think I'll stop pouring. Wow. Yeah.

OK, you've got a few leaks -

and that's all about that construction, unfortunately.

But I love your overall theme, you know, your family as the,

kind of, basis for everything,

and I love the fact that pottery is your crowning glory.

It's top of the pile, it's great.

Family is the base, pottery at the top.

What more do you want?

Firm foundation and good old pottery, yeah.

It's wonderful. It's fantastic.

The first word that comes to mind is "full".

It's just full of you!

The brushwork, the slip work,

the attention to detail.

This - sublime.

I love these legs, the fact that you've got this, kind of,

voluptuous, generous form sat astride these very delicate legs.

So, it feels like it's really lifted from the surface. Yeah.

I love the asymmetrical spouts.

You know, we asked for three spouts on each layer.

We didn't say where. We didn't say where. No.

Your eye is trying to look for symmetry, but it's not there,

so you're seeing unique and interesting decoration from

every angle and different surfaces.

Let's have a look.

You've done tiny little legs on there.

It's just so they don't fall off.

And I think that's a really good idea.

Shall we see what it looks like with water and flowers?

Water. Get my stylish watering can.

So, it seems to be holding the water, which is good. Yes.

She, sort of, comes to life, doesn't she?

The moment you put all those flowers in.

I feel quite emotional about it.

I'm really pleased with how it came out,

and just how meaningful it is to me, really.

You know what?

It's fitting that you've given us this in the final.

It's absolutely fitting.

It's what the final is all about, brilliant.

Thank you.

That was amazing!

I'm just really proud.

I'm really proud of it.

And I've never looked at something I've made before

and felt that level of, like, emotion about it.

Yeah, it's, er, it's really great.

Pretty much what I thought it'd be like.

There was no chance they weren't going to leak.

So, the decoration was what I was hoping for.

Came out really nicely, all stacked together nicely.

I like the look of it, but it's a shame it just leaked.

Thought out with clarity, built with quality.

It was brilliant feedback,

and that's really what I tried to do -

and to achieve that, I'm really pleased.

I'm sure shortly I'll feel quite sad, cos I realise that was the last

judging, that was the last time we'll probably be in the pottery.

Everything's now going to change.

I can't do anything else now, I've done everything I can.

It's just down to what the judges decide.

OK, guys, we have three

amazing potters who have made it

to the final after ten weeks.

They should be very proud of what they've done.

Are you proud of what they've done?

Yeah. I mean, haven't they given us three very fitting centrepieces?

And they're all so different.

Their personalities really have come through on those vases.

Jon is just inspirational.

He's grown and improved so much -

not only as a potter, but the way he thinks creatively.

That crescendo, that triumphant fanfare with all that colour

on the top - brilliant.

This feels like a culmination of all of his skills

and abilities, his planning... His planning.

..coming together in perfect harmony.

Now, James, how do you think he got on?

We've seen from James, throughout this whole process,

his throwing skills are really brilliant, but the one thing

that let him down with that pyramid vase was these double-walled vessels

and they had cracked a bit.

He was perhaps trying to push too far in that make stage.

He could've used that time that he spent on those double walls

somewhere else.

On the other hand, we've Lois.

I have rarely seen somebody who throws herself into her work

as much as she does.

She has a very, very strong signature style. She does.

And that was prevalent throughout all her makes.

It had incredible persona, character. Yeah.

The way she uses the brush, and the way she injects life

and energy into every mark she makes is inspiring.

So, it'll be a tough decision, you know? They, kind of,

are all winners really...

No. I'm not having that. You have to pick one.

Mainly because there's only one trophy. So, hurry up.

Wow, look at this, mate! Looks amazing.

As our finalists await the judges' decision...

And we got the orange hay bale - our lucky colour.

..their family, friends, and the past potters

are here to cheer them on.

And it's got, like, the suspension bridge on the second one.

It's so good to be back! Fantastic to see everybody.

It's good to see you, Christophe.

Good to see you, too. It's good to see you.

It's so recognisable, you definitely know who it is. You do!

I've seen the pieces - they're fabulous.

You can tell whose they are, as well, by just looking at them

and going, "Yeah, that's James, that's Jon, that's Lois."

Oh, I would love to see James to win, because he was very,

very focused on what he did.

He put so much passion in that.

Lois is always going to be my winner.

Erm, she's my inspiration.

She's just such an amazing, creative person.

But Jon has just done so well.

His piece has shown he's grown, so I think it's going to be tight.

I would love to see if Jon won.

It's been so nice seeing him just come out of his shell,

get more flamboyant.

Whoever it is will get a big hug and a big drink.

Hello! How lovely to see you all.

And it is lovely to see our past potters

and our finalists' families.

The moment is here.

Could you please give a very warm welcome to our three finalists?

James, Lois and Jon.

Aww. They're just doing that to keep warm.

Potters, thank you for your hard work,

and for making this an incredible final.

The judges have reached their decision.

The winner of the Great Pottery Throw Down is...

..Lois.

Did you just say my name?

Oh, my goodness!

Oh, my goodness!

I think I'm in a lot of shock.

This whole thing is beautiful.

To be part of it, and then, to be holding this at the end,

just feel really lucky that I'm here

and my wonderful friends and my family, my mum.

We've all worked really hard together,

and that's why it's really special, I think.

Well done. Well done.

What makes Lois really special is that she gives us something

of herself every single time she makes something.

So proud of you.

Right the way through, she's just dazzled us

with her incredible affinity for decorative work,

and just all round pottery skills.

She really deserves it.

All our potters this year have just been absolutely wonderful.

The hard work, the dedication,

the creativity that has happened in that room up there

has just been absolutely incredible.

I've got different ideas from it.

I'm hoping that's where it'll change where I'm going.

It'll definitely help changing the pottery trajectory because of

the people I've met, and we'll keep in touch.

Lads, lads. Well done.

I'm really, really pleased what I've done - I've done it for

the engineers, I've got bending moment diagrams on a final piece

in the Pottery Throw Down, you know, no-one else will do that.

So, I'm not disappointed.

And I'm just really pleased for Lois.

I think the future looks pretty exciting.

I'm definitely going to have more confidence

in new things that I try.

And I'm just really looking forward to sharing loads of pottery chat

with a lot of people.

You've both been really good while I've been away, haven't you?

I've missed you. Yeah.

Yeah, I missed you, too. I missed you more.

# Now don't you ever be sad

# Lean on me when the times are bad

# When the day comes and you're down, baby

# In a river of trouble and about to drown

# Just hold on, I'm comin'

# Hold on, I'm comin'

# Hold on, I'm comin'

# Hold on, I'm comin'

# Reach out to me

# For satisfaction, yeah

# Lookit here, baby, this is all she got to do

# Call my name, yeah, for quick reaction

# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

# Now, don't you ever be sad

# Lean on me when the times are bad

# When the day comes and you're down, baby

# In a river of trouble and about to drown

# Just hold on, I'm comin'

# Hold on, I'm comin'

# Hold on, I'm comin'

# Hold on, I'm comin'

# Just hold on # Don't you worry

# I'm comin' # Here we come... #

If you'd like to apply for the next

series of Pottery Throw Down,

visit channel4.com/takepart.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media